According to Bigelow Aerospace's President and Founder, Robert T. Bigelow, "WE'RE VERY EXCITED TO BE WORKING WITH OUR COLLEAGUES AT SPACEX TO PRESENT THE UNIQUE SERVICES THAT OUR TWO COMPANIES CAN OFFER TO INTERNATIONAL CLIENTELE. WE'RE EAGER TO JOIN THEM OVERSEAS TO DISCUSS THE SUBSTANTIAL BENEFITS THAT BA 330 LEASING CAN OFFER IN COMBINATION WITH SPACEX TRANSPORTATION CAPABILITIES"."
The BA 330 is a habitat that will provide roughly 330 cubic meters of usable volume and can support a crew of up to six. Bigelow Aerospace plans to connect two or more BA 330s in orbit to provide national space agencies, companies, and universities with unparalleled access to the microgravity environment.
"SPACEX AND BA HAVE A LOT IN COMMON. BOTH COMPANIES WERE FOUNDED TO HELP CREATE A NEW ERA IN SPACE ENTERPRISE," said SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell. "TOGETHER WE WILL PROVIDE UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES TO ENTITIES -- WHETHER NATIONS OR CORPORATIONS -- WISHING TO HAVE CREWED ACCESS TO THE SPACE ENVIRONMENT FOR EXTENDED PERIODS. I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO WORKING WITH BIGELOW AEROSPACE AND ENGAGING WITH INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS, Shotwell explained.
SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft will be capable of carrying seven passengers to orbit. With the company's Falcon family of rockets, SpaceX is working to create the world's safest human spaceflight system.
The companies will kick off their marketing effort in Asia. Representatives from Bigelow and SpaceX will meet with officials in Japan shortly after the next launch of the Falcon 9 and Dragon spacecraft.
From Japan, the two companies may move on to Dubai and the United Arab Emirates, where Bigelow signed a memorandum of understanding in 2011 to work on microgravity research and development. Bigelow's large, private spacecraft give many countries the ability to do space station research at a small fraction of the cost that was required to build the International Space Station. Bigelow has spoken of leasing them as well, dropping the price for space station access even further.
More from Alan Boyle at COSMIC LOG MSNBC quoting Bigelow Aerospace Mike Gold.
Reference: ovni-news.blogspot.com
